Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a refrigerator including a refrigeration chamber which comprises an upper wall, a lower wall, two side walls and a rear wall connected to the upper wall, the lower wall and two side walls to form a receiving container surroundingly. The refrigeration chamber is provided therein with a baffle which has a distance of 0 to 10 mm from the rear wall of the refrigeration chamber. As the refrigerating chamber is provided with the baffle, vegetable and fruit etc. can be prevented from frostbiting due to directly contacting with the rear wall of the refrigeration chamber, and the temperature in the refrigeration chamber can be kept even.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and particularly to arefrigerator comprising a refrigerating chamber that is capable ofeffectively preserve fruits and vegetables.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As the rear wall of the refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator isattached with an evaporator, the rear wall may have a temperature as lowas 10 Celsius degrees below zero. Moreover, since the evaporator isdirectly attached to the rear wall, cooling progresses from the rearwall of the refrigerating chamber; meanwhile, warmer air will inevitablyenter into the refrigerating chamber when opening and then closing thedoor of the refrigerator. Therefore, the temperature at the place nearthe door is usually relatively high, and there is a relatively largetemperature gradient in the refrigerating chamber. Thus, vegetables orfruits are usually pushed towards the rear wall of the refrigeratingchamber so as to be kept near the rear wall. However, these vegetablesor fruits will suffer from frostbite or even be frozen together with therear wall, if they get too close to or directly contact the rear wall ofthe refrigerating chamber, which is disadvantageous to preservenutrition within the kept vegetables or fruits, and tends to blemish theinterior of the refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator. Besides, iftoo much food is put inside, the temperature gradient in therefrigerating chamber will be further developed, which is againdisadvantageous for a good preserve of these vegetables or fruits.

To solve the above problems, a protective grating with a certain heightis arranged in front of the rear wall of the refrigerating chamber ofthe refrigerator, so as to space vegetables or fruits from the rear wallby a certain distance. However, since this protective grating takes theform of fencing, it may only prevent fruits from contact the rear wallof the refrigerating chamber. With respect to vegetables with leaves,since leaves or stems thereof may easily go through the openings of thegrating and directly contact the rear wall of the refrigerating chamber,thus they will suffer from frostbite or even getting stuck on the rearwall, and the effect of the protective grating is not as good asdesired. Besides, the provision of the protective grating within therefrigerating chamber is not helpful to reduce the temperature gradientin the refrigerating chamber, and the temperature at the place near thedoor of the refrigerator remains higher than that around the rear wall.To be specific, when the evaporator attached to the rear wall of therefrigerating chamber is operating, the cool caused by the evaporatorwill spread to the storage chamber freely and quickly. In this case, thetemperature of the region near the rear wall of the refrigeratingchamber will drop quickly, while the temperature of the region of therefrigerating chamber away from the rear wall (for example, the regionnear the door of the refrigerator) will drop slowly due to convection.Therefore, a relatively great temperature gradient will occur in therefrigerating chamber.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator with arefrigerating chamber in which fruits and vegetables may be effectivelypreserved.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigeratorwith a refrigerating chamber with a relatively uniform temperaturedistribution.

For achieving such objects, the refrigerator according to the presentinvention includes a refrigerating chamber comprising a top wall, abottom wall, two side walls and a rear wall, said rear wall connectingwith the top wall, the bottom wall and the side walls to define astorage chamber, wherein the refrigerating chamber is further providedwith a baffle spaced from the rear wall by a distance of 0 to 10 mm.

Preferably, the distance is 4 to 6 mm.

Preferably, each of the two side walls of the refrigerating chamber isprovided with a groove, the baffle being fitted in the grooves, andsealing strips being provided at those locations where the baffleengages with the grooves.

Preferably, the baffle is mounted on a bracket secured to the interiorof the refrigerating chamber.

Preferably, screw-posts are provided on the side walls of therefrigerating chamber, the baffle is secured to the interior of therefrigerating chamber by screws fastened to the screw-posts.

Preferably, the baffle is provided with openings for diffusing cool airinto the refrigerating chamber.

Preferably, a blower spaced from the rear wall of the refrigeratingchamber is provided in the refrigerating chamber for improving theuniformity of temperature distribution within the refrigerating chamber.

Preferably, a recess for accommodating at least a part of the blower iscorrespondingly provided in the baffle at a location where the blower isarranged.

The present invention is advantageous over the prior art in that: therefrigerating chamber of the present invention is further provided witha baffle spaced from the rear wall by a certain distance, such thatvegetables or fruits are prevented from frostbite or even being stuck onthe rear wall due to directly contacting the rear wall. Furthermore, thebaffle may function as a buffer between the rear wall of therefrigerating chamber and the storage chamber. When the evaporatorattached to the rear wall of the refrigerating chamber is operating andthus the temperature of the rear wall and the air near the rear walldrop quickly, the cool caused by the evaporator will spread from therear wall to the storage chamber through the baffle slowly and evenly,rather than freely and directly. In this situation, the temperature ofthe whole storage chamber will drop slowly and evenly, and it ispossible to get a uniform temperature distribution in the storagechamber. This avoids the large temperature gradient in the refrigeratingchamber, which is usually occurred in a conventional refrigerator.Besides, since the distance between the baffle and the rear wall isrelatively small, the capacity of the refrigerating chamber will not beaffected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a refrigerating chamberaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a refrigerating chamberaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a refrigerating chamberaccording to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a refrigerating chamberaccording to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a refrigerating chamber provided with ablower of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing a refrigerating chamberaccording to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a refrigerating chamber 1 of the refrigeratoraccording to the present invention is essentially rectangular, andcomprises a top wall 11, a bottom wall 12, two side walls (not shown)and a rear wall 15 connecting to the top wall 11, the bottom wall 12 andtwo side walls to form a storage chamber 19 with an opening (notlabeled), The storage chamber 19 is provided with shelves 16 and acrisper 17 for keeping vegetables and fruits. An evaporator (not shown)for refrigeration, which is placed close to the rear wall, is arrangedbetween a rear wall (not shown) of the refrigerator and the rear wall 15of the refrigerating chamber. The rear wall 15 at its lower end isprovided with a water outlet 151 of the refrigeration chamber.

The storage chamber 19 of the refrigerating chamber 1 is provided with abaffle 18, which is close to the rear wall 15 and is spaced from therear wall 15 by a certain distance. The height of the baffle 18 is equalto or less than that of the rear wall 15. Due to the distance betweenthe baffle 18 and the rear wall 15, items such as vegetables or fruitskept in the storage chamber 19 will not directly contact the rear wall15, therefore will not suffer from frostbiting or get stuck on the rearwall 15 for freezing. The distance between the baffle and the rear wallmay range from 0 to 10 mm. Since the space occupied by the baffle andcooling air passageway is relatively small, the effective capacity ofthe storage chamber 19 will not be substantially reduced. Preferably,the distance between the baffle and the rear wall ranges from 4 to 6 mm.

Grooves (not shown) are respectively provided in the side walls of therefrigerating chamber 1, one groove for each side wall, such that twosides of the baffle 18 may be correspondingly secured in the grooves.After the baffle 18 is secured in the grooves, sealing strips (notshown) are provided at those locations where the baffle engages with thegrooves to achieve a good sealing therebetween.

Of course, the baffle 18 may be secured in the refrigerating chamber 1in another manner. That is to say, screw-posts (not shown) are providedon the side walls of the refrigerating chamber 1, such that the baffle18 may be fastened to the screw-post by screws, therefore secured to therefrigerating chamber.

The baffle 18 may be made from a conventional PS plate or other plasticplates. At the same time, the baffle 18 is protected from deformation.The temperature within the refrigerating chamber 1 is adjustable, and isusually controlled within the range of 0 to 10 Celsius degree. Thetemperature distribution in the refrigerating chamber 1 may become moreuniform because of the presence of the baffle, therefore the temperaturenear the door is less likely to get substantially higher than thetemperature near the rear wall 15.

Referring to FIG. 2, in the second embodiment of the present invention,the baffle 18 may be provided with openings 183 which allowing the coolair near the rear wall 15 to flow into the refrigerating chamber 1through the baffle 18, thus ensuring a uniform temperature distributionin the refrigerating chamber 1. Of course, a baffle 18 with a gratingconfiguration may similarly achieve the same effect.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the third embodiment of the present invention,the baffle 18 may be provided with a heat insulating layer 182 on itsback side. Preferably, the height of the heat insulating layer 182 isless than that of the rear wall 15. Therefore, the cooling air near therear wall 15 is further insulated to ensure a satisfactory refrigerationeffect. Thus, the temperature of the baffle 18 will not get too low ortoo high. Even if the refrigeration function of the evaporator is verypowerful and the temperature of the rear wall 15 is very low, thetemperature in the refrigerating chamber 1 will not vary dramatically ordrop quickly.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the fourth embodiment of the present invention,a blower 188 may be further arranged between the rear wall 15 of therefrigerating chamber 1 and the rear wall of the refrigerator. Theblower 188 is installed beyond the plane of the baffle 18. Byappropriate sealing, the blower 188 is connected with the space behindthe baffle 18. The blower 188 is spaced from the rear wall 15. Whenoperating, the blower 188 enhances a diffusion of cool air from the rearwall 15 into the storage chamber 19 of the refrigerating chamber 1through the baffle 18, thus realizing a uniform temperature distributionin the refrigerating chamber 1. The blower 188 is supported by asupporting frame, and is fastened to one of the walls of therefrigerating chamber 1 by fastening members such as screws.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, in the refrigerating chamber 1 provided witha blower 188, the top edge of the baffle 18 may be not lower than theattachment point of the blower 188. A recess 189 to accommodate bladesof the blower 188 is correspondingly provided in the baffle 18 at alocation where the blower 188 is arranged. Since the blower 188 isarranged at the upper portion of the baffle 18, it will not excessivelyaffect the capacity of the storage space 19.

Referring to FIG. 7, in the fifth embodiment of the present invention,the baffle 18 may be secured within the storage chamber 19 via a bracket181.

It may be easily understood that these technical solutions for a uniformtemperature distribution within the refrigerating chamber and a goodpreserving of vegetables and fruits may be separately applied todifferent refrigerating chambers 1 or simultaneously applied to a singlerefrigerating chamber 1 of a refrigerator.

The above description is merely illustrative of preferred embodiments ofthe present invention, and it should be pointed out that variations andmodifications can be envisaged by those skilled in the art within thespirit of the present invention, and these variations and modificationsshould come within the scope claimed by the claims of the presentinvention.

1. A refrigerator including a refrigerating chamber which comprises atop wall, a bottom wall, two side walls and a rear wall, said rear wallconnecting with the top wall, the bottom wall and the side walls todefine a storage chamber, wherein the refrigerating chamber is furtherprovided with a baffle spaced from the rear wall by a distance of 0 to10 mm.
 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the distance is4 to 6 mm.
 3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein each of thetwo side walls of the refrigerating chamber is provided with a groove,the baffle being fitted in the grooves, and sealing strips beingprovided at those locations where the baffle engages with the grooves.4. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the baffle is mountedon a bracket secured to the interior of the refrigerating chamber. 5.The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein screw-posts are providedon the side walls of the refrigerating chamber, the baffle is secured tothe interior of the refrigerating chamber by screws fastened to thescrew-posts.
 6. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein thebaffle is provided with openings for diffusing cool air into therefrigerating chamber.
 7. The refrigerator according to claim 6, whereina blower spaced from the rear wall of the refrigerating chamber isprovided in the refrigerating chamber for improving the uniformity oftemperature distribution within the refrigerating chamber.
 8. Therefrigerator according to claim 7, wherein a recess for accommodating atleast a part of the blower is correspondingly provided in the baffle ata location where the blower is arranged.